Sunday, May 22, 2011
Obama and the Israel Lobby
(updated below)
This week's hysterical, reality-deprived reaction to President Obama's pronouncements on the Israel/Palestine conflict genuinely provoked laughter on several occasions. That happened when I thought of the intense controversy triggered by publication of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer's The Israel Lobby, which examined the "loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction," a coalition driven by "a core consisting of organizations whose declared purpose is to encourage the U.S. government and the American public to provide material aid to Israel and to support its government's policies, as well as influential individuals for whom these goals are also a top priority." This week's events underscore how remarkable it is that that book's argument was demonized as some sort of radical, hateful conspiracy tract rather than treated as what it was: a statement of the bleeding obvious (albeit a brave one, given that discussions of that reality had previously been taboo).
Obama's call for a peace deal ultimately "based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps" is not even arguably a change from past American policy. Though he's the first President to publicly call for such an outcome, that's been the working premise of American policy for decades. It's controversial in one sense -- it unduly rewards Israel for its illegal seizures of land by suggesting they should be able to permanently keep West Bank settlements (the "land swap" aspect of the formula) -- but it does not remotely constitute a step in an anti-Israel direction. When even Israel-devoted stalwarts such as former IDF CorporalJeffrey Goldberg and the ADL's Abe Foxman are dismissive of the condemnation of Obama's statements, it's crystal clear that they pose no challenge to the dominant pro-Israel orthodoxy that has shaped American policy (and political discourse) for decades.
At most, Obama's public endorsement of this position was a symbolic gesture to chide Netanyahu for his overt indifference to U.S. interests (and, more so, belligerence toward Obama), and a small rhetorical fig leaf to the populist forces driving the Arab rebellion. Yet even the most microscopic deviation from the dictates of the Israel Government produce shrill and ludicrous backlash from The inside-the-U.S. Israel Lobby.
The Right Wing Noise Machine all but accused Obama of trying to destroy Israel, with the GOP's leading presidential candidatescondemning the President for the crime of "disrespecting" and "throwing Israel under the bus," Glenn Beck denouncing him for "betraying Israel," and Matt Drudge exploiting ignorance to screech in headlines that "Obama Sides With Palestinians." Meanwhile, a former AIPAC spokesman demanded that Obama take a renewed public pledge of devotion to Israel, and circulated to the media statements of condemnation from numerous "pro-Israel" Democrats in Congress. The neoconservative Israel-devotees at The Washington Post editorialized against Obama and predictably blamed him for the resulting tension with Netanyahu, siding (as usual) with this foreign government over their own. And a Reutersarticle this morning claims that "some prominent Jewish Americans are rethinking their support for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election bid" due to that speech:
The backlash after Obama's keynote speech on the Middle East has Democratic Party operatives scrambling to mollify the Jewish community as the president prepares to seek a second term in the White House. . . .
"I have spoken to a lot of people in the last couple of days -- former supporters -- who are very upset and feel alienated," billionaire real estate developer and publisher Mortimer Zuckerman said.
"He'll get less political support, fewer activists for his campaign, and I am sure that will extend to financial support as well."
But remember: it's so very heinous and hateful to suggest -- as Walt and Mearsheimer shamefully did -- that some Americans are driven by devotion to Israel as their primary political preoccupation and that, banded together, they exert substantial influence. Perish the thought.
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Unconfirmed: Bin Laden Mission Aborted, American Deaths from Helicopter Crash
“EYEWITNESS” INTERVIEW SAYS AMERICANS DIED, MISSION UNSUCCESSFUL
“We saw the helicopter burning, we saw the dead bodies, then everything was removed and now there is nothing”
By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor
Full And Complete Translation Of The Pakistani News Video I Posted About Osama bin Laden
Anchor: Welcome back, Mohammad Bashir is a resident of Abboottabad’s Bilal Town. Muhammad Bashir might seem an ordinary guy but he is no ordinary guy. Muhammad Bashir lives in front of Osama Ben Laden’s house in Bilal Town Abbottabad. On 2nd of May, Muhammad Bashir was present on his rooftop from where he saw the whole American operation against Osama Ben Laden with his own eyes. Yesterday when our team was present In Bilal Town, Abbottabad, near Osama Ben Laden’s hose, Muhammad Bashir came to us and said, “Sister, I need to tell you something, something that is a burden on my heart and soul”, just listen to what he said.Bashir: I am going to share something about the Abbottabad operation which till this day nobody else has told you.Anchor: But Muhammad Bashir was a little afraid too, while talking to me he telephoned hia reletive, Vice President of Jummat-e-Islami, Abdur Razzaq Abasi, watch itReporter: Tell me your name and tell me whare do you liveBashir: Let me first, Let me talk to him one minute, i will give you full interview, full or half?Reporter: Full FullBashir: Let me first talk to himReporter: To whom? To Abbasi?Bashir: yes, to AbbasiAnchor: Muhammad Bashir told us something that no one said before. So we checked his identity card, we also confirmed that he really lives there, we asked from the senior fellows about him. We were very astonished by his story just see and listen what he said.Bashir: We were awake, not asleep, a helicopter came, some men came down from that, into that house, then that helicopter went awayReporter: How many men?Bashir: 10-12, then that helicopter took rounds of those rear hills, then he came bac…k and when he came bach, two more helicopters arrived, one from the west and other from the north, there was a blast in the first helicopter and it was on fire, we immediately came out, when we reached there, the helicopter was burning, then after about 20 minutes the army and police arrived, they pushed us back, now we are asking that if oama was here then who took him to america because all those men that came in the helicopter died in the blast, now if Osama was in that helicopter he must have died and got burnt in that helicopter too, then how they took him? this is a question of serious concern. America claims they they killed him and picked him up. How they picked him up? This is what we are thinkingReporter: Was there only one helicopter?Bashir? Yes the other that came flew away to Mansehra, there was only one that landed the men and came back to pick them but as he was picking them up, it blew away and caught fire.Reporter: Then were in it when it blew?Bashir: Yes They were.Reporter : How you know?Bashir: We saw it with our own eyesReporter: You saw dead man?Bashir: Yes, dead men,Reporter: How many?Bashir: I couldnt count them because then the compound was on fire. The gate was open, we went in, the army and police hadnt arrived then, there were some people but they werent stopping them. The whole neighborhood has seen that but they are silent now.Bashir: We saw the helicopter burning, we saw the dead bodies, then everything was removed and now there is nothingReporter: How many dead bodies you saw?Bashir: We couldn’t count them because they were blown into pieces.
Bashir said we could see the faces of those men but they were speaking pashto. I dont know whether they were Pakistani or American army or people of agencies, as you know that agency people can speak many languages.May be they were speaking Pashto so that we consider them Pakistani.They knocked and banged at our doors and told us not to come out.I laid down on my rooftop and was watching them.My kids were calling me, I told them to go to their rooms and let me check whats going on.The reporter asks Bashir, that when he saw that the helicopter was American what was he thinking then?Bashir said that he got afraid. He didn’t had in his mind that they will attack that house. He thought that they might have come to attack the Pakistan Army.The reporter asked so when was your cousin Shamraiz taken away?Bashir: Shamrez was at our home, as the helicopter exploded, me and many others went out of our homes to see what happened. Shamrez also came out and the gate of the compound was open, we went in, every thing was lying scattered, as it is a huge compound, some body parts were lying here, some there, legs, arms, heads, broken and torn body parts, during that time some part of the helicopter inside, may be the engine or other fuel related part had an explosion so we rushed out. During that time Shamrez was taken away, he is in his home now, but no one is allowed to meet him and i couldn’t get a chance to talk to him later.Then the anchor says that they had vegetations inside the compound and Shamrez was their gardener. We know that two men Arshad and Tariq used to live there. They had good relations with the neighbours, they used to buy things from the local store. Sometimes imported dates and used to send many things to their neighbours.Then the reporter is at Abdullah Ben Zubair Mosque, which is the nearest to compound of Osama.She asks a guy: do you think people would have been glad and happy if they would have ever met osama?The guy : Yes, possibly. Because he was a muslim and he believed in God.
The gentleman being interviewed lives across from the compound. His cousin Sahab Jamrez Khan used to grow vegetables in the compound. He was taken away in all the hullabaloo on tape @10.29 Bashir says he did not see when they wisked his cousin away.Interviewer asks “Have you spoken to your cousin?”Bashir “No, I have not seen him yet he in in the house. “They will not let him get out” “They will not let me get in.”2 other men Arshad Sahib and Tariq Sahib used to go to market to shop for that compound and bought international brand items. Dates, dried meat found in compound. Also food used to come from compound to Bashir’s house Kabulu Pilau and things like that used to be presented to Bashir. They will follow up with more information. In the end the lady is standing in front of Abdullah Bin Zubair mosque. The mosque was with in walking distance of the compound. She asks people if Osama did attend this mosque people would have be happy? The one answered maybe. The other said Osama did “not” live here but he was muslim and believed in God. Interview ends.Another thing to note is that Bashir mentioned that we are very “sharif” meaning law abiding honest people. His town was a peaceful place no excitement no murders, fights, and he is unhappy how they have made his town so frightful with all this news. One thing is very clear in this video. Two helicopters hovered never landed. One landed dropped Pashto speaking poeple on the roof 10-12 of them Helicopter left fo 20 minutes returned to load people in and small blast engine failure fire helicopter parts all over. Body parts arms, legs, head, all over. Pakistani Army/Police came in dispersed crowd. The whole scene is cleaned up totally now. No evidence left to examine.
Wheelchair-bound Man Slammed Brutally By Police Thugs :
The Intel Hub
Shepard Ambellas
May 22, 2011
The world we live in is a dangerous place — a violent place sometimes. But no one would expect the police (who’s motto ironically is to “Protect and Serve”) to slam a handicapped non-threatening suspect onto the ground with sheer brute force.
Just another testament to what we have to loo forward to as a slave nation to the oligarchs who rule with an iron fist instilling tyranny on every level of the populace.
The following video clip is almost painful to watch.